Goodbye, Hammond of Texas
by drgemini86
Summary: SG-1 has to come to terms with a very sad loss. Written in memory of Don S. Davis. Also for the SamDanielthon 2008. SamDaniel
1. Chapter 1

_**Goodbye, Hammond of Texas, by DrGemini86 (DrGemini24)**_

_**Summary: **__SG-1 has to come to terms with a very sad loss. Written in memory of Don S. Davis, and for the SamDanielthon 2008. SamDaniel_

_**Pairing: **__SamDaniel_

_**Rating: **__T_

_**Category: **__Established Relationship _

_**Genres: **__A/U, Angst, Crossover, Drama, Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy_

_**Crossover: **__Stargate: Atlantis_

_**Spoilers: **__Not particularly_

_**Timeline: **__Set after the movies_

_**Prompts: **__'death', 'house guest', 'teamwork', 'birth'_

_**A/N: **__Dedicated to the wonderful actor Don S. Davis, who played the equally wonderful General George Hammond in seasons 1-7, with smaller parts in seasons 8, 9 and 10, season 1 of Atlantis, and a role in Continuum. He passed away on 29__th__ June 2008. Go to Gateworld(dot)net for his obituary._

_Don S. Davis – 1942-2008 – RIP_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Daniel sat opposite his pregnant wife on the floor of the lounge in their house, helping her practice her breathing for when their new child was due to come into the world. He smiled slightly as he held their first child, a fair-haired toddler, who watched his mother with big curious blue eyes that reminded Daniel a lot of Sam, although Sam would then point out that they reminded her of his eyes.

Sam groaned, remarking in annoyance as she gave up in frustration, "It's easy for you to say. You don't have to do this once, never mind twice."

He raised his eyebrows at her cheekily, playfully covering their child's ears. "Don't let Jake hear you say that. You might finally scar him for life."

She retorted, looking about ready to throw something at him, "That's if you finally get over that habit of yours for going missing. I swear, by now, it's an art form with you."

They stared at each other, willing the other to break the stand off first, when Daniel finally poked his tongue out at her, and she rolled her eyes, remarking, "What a _fine_ example you're setting for our son."

He stage-whispered down to Jake, who looked up at him with a toothy smile, "That's why you shouldn't join the Air Force when you grow up, because you'll end up like mad Mommy over there."

She stared at him in partial disbelief and then threw the nearest thing to hand... a teddy bear, at him, the soft toy bouncing off his shoulder as he tried hard not to laugh. Just then the phone rang, and Sam groaned, remarking,

"If it's Jack, tell him that I am _not_ naming my baby, Michael."

Daniel smiled in amusement on remembering Jack's recent jokes, as well as his jokes during Sam's first pregnancy, about the Archaeologist's unfortunate surname. He stood up and then said as Jake began to whimper, stretching his arms out in Sam's direction,

"You want Mommy?"

Sam smiled as Daniel gave Jake to her before kissing her. "Typical Jackson... he's scared of heights."

Daniel, still smiling but this time shaking his head at her poking fun at him again, went into the hall to answer the phone, just as the doorbell rang. With his ear to the phone, he unlocked the door to find a grave looking Jack, Cam, Teal'c and Vala on his doorstep. Frowning as he tried to concentrate on the phone call, he waved them in and shut the door behind them as they went into the lounge.

He was about to follow them in when what he heard next from the caller stunned him. His back to the lounge, he rested his forehead against the wall of the hallway, asking quietly, hoping that Sam hadn't heard already or got wind that something had happened,

"How did it happen?"

Trembling from shock, he slumped to the floor, muttering as Jack watched him from the doorway to the lounge, "Oh God." He said quietly before disconnecting, "I'm very sorry for your loss. Thank you for letting me know. Sorry... I've got to go. I'll call you later."

The phone dropped from his hand, the Archaeologist not caring where it had gone as he held his knees close to his chest, his eyes red-rimmed. He finally registered Jack's presence as the General, grimacing, kneeled in front of him. Daniel looked up at him and said, quietly again so Sam wouldn't find out, especially in her condition,

"He's gone."

Jack nodded. "I know. That's why we're here. We were hoping to break it to you gently but Susan must have found your number."

Suddenly Daniel realised something. He scrabbled to his feet, the General too, and he asked, trying to compose himself but looking panicked as well as grief-stricken, "You didn't tell her, did you?" Seeing Jack look away, not saying anything, Daniel exclaimed quietly to himself in Abydonian before pushing past him to see Sam looking as white as a sheet as she still sat on the floor. Cam held Jake, the toddler looking confused but docile as the Colonel and Vala sat in front of Sam, Teal'c kneeling at her side as he wrapped her in his arms.

"Oh God." All but Sam looked up on hearing Daniel's grave exclamation and Teal'c got up, nodding silently at Daniel as the Archaeologist kneeled in his place, pulling her tightly into his arms as Sam finally began to cry, clinging onto him tighter than even he had thought possible, not that he cared about his welfare at that particular point in time.

"He's gone, Daniel. Uncle George is gone."

Sniffing back tears that wouldn't wait, he rested his chin on top of her head, whispering, "I know... and I'm so sorry."

Teal'c, looking incredibly moved at the news and Sam's reaction, said softly, "General Hammond was a paternal figure towards myself and the entire SGC. He will be greatly missed."

Jack didn't have the heart to joke about Teal'c's age as he quietly agreed as an emotional Vala comforted a now crying Jake, and a worried looking Cam looked on. Jack sighed and then said softly, standing behind Daniel,

"Daniel." His eyes softened with regret, knowing that Daniel, amidst his own sorrow, was angry that Sam had been told. "Take Carter upstairs. She needs to rest."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack exhaled as he sat in the Carter-Jackson lounge, looking at the amber hued liquid in the glass bottle that he held, not feeling up to drinking during what was proving to be a very painful time for all concerned. He said to Cam who was stood nearby,

"George Hammond is a legend. You missed out on a lot not having him as your CO. He's the best damn base commander the SGC will ever have. He's a fine upstanding officer, gentleman, grandfather, father..." He looked up at Cam. "Tell me, do you ever go to Hank's house?"

Cam frowned at the seeming digression. "No Sir. I hung out at his cabin once though..." he grimaced on remembering his and Landry's encounter with a Sodan warrior.

"Yeah, heard about that... damn Sodan. My point is that George was still 'The Man', but he took an active interest in those under his command, and despite himself, made friends with each of us. He would even say 'no' when he saw fit... Hank won't say 'no' to you guys much because he trusts you and knows that you know more about the Milky Way than he does. George was like a father to all of us... and he saved our asses in 1969."

Cam smiled briefly as he remembered the exaggerated secrecy surrounding that particular mission report from classic SG-1's past, as well as his team-mates implying that Jack had fathered him during that mission. "I know Sir. Jackson finally let me read the report not long ago."

Jack chuckled, having heard the story of the prank through Teal'c. "Weird sense of humour, my old gang."

Cam perched on the arm of the couch. "I didn't know the General that well, but he seemed like a good man."

Jack smiled faintly. "Yeah... he thought the world of you for bringing the band back together. Damn shame he's gone and the world will never know just what he did. Forget that... his own family won't even know."

"You thought of bringing them into the fold, Sir?"

Jack sighed as he put the beer bottle down with a firm thud onto the coffee table, his eyes showing only an inkling of his pain."Yes... and it'll be a bad idea. It's going to needlessly put their lives at risk. He was very protective of his granddaughters in particular, because Susan, their Mom, is his only kid. They've already been used in a threat against him... years back."

0o0o0o0o0o0

Teal'c, sporting one of his growing collection of hats for outdoor use, sat next to Vala on the front porch as Jake took a nap inside, and Vala said, glancing at the ever stoic Jaffa, "So... Muscles... tell me about him. He seemed nice going by the few times that I encountered him."

Teal'c smiled slightly. "That is a great understatement, ValaMalDoran." His smile vanished. "GeneralHammond was a great man who governed the SGC firmly but justly. He was a kind man who supported those beneath him in rank. His loss is a great blow to this planet, and he will surely be missed."

Vala nodded, looking thoughtful. "It seems like it. I can't believe he reached that many people. I mean, look at General Landry. If he passed away, we wouldn't be mourning him like this."

"He is a different man, ValaMalDoran. If GeneralLandry passed away, he would indeed be greatly mourned. However, GeneralHammond deserves a greater level of respect. He was not afraid to inform me of being erroneous."

Vala looked impressed. "Wow, that must have taken lots and lots... and lots of courage. He's got my respect already."

0o0o0o0o0o0

Sam lie in bed, sniffing as she cried quietly. Daniel, upset too at the loss but also highly concerned because of her condition, said, his voice breaking as he kneeled at her bedside, "Please Sam. Eat something... for the baby's sake at least."

Sam shook her head as she stared into nothingness. "He's gone, Daniel." She closed her eyes and turned, with difficulty, to lie on her back. "It's like Dad all over again... and I didn't even get to say goodbye. He was going to come over for brunch on Sunday." She sniffed. "I've known him for such a long time. He and Auntie Martha – she died from cancer a few years before you and Jack went to Abydos – used to visit Mom and Dad from when I was Jake's age at least." She smiled through her tears as she remembered events from many, many years before. "I remember he and Dad would work on each other's cars and drink beer. When Mom and Auntie Martha went shopping, they would play Poker in the kitchen with Uncle Fred and smoke cigars."

He held her hand tightly as he listened to her words, remembering stories she had already told him, and he said softly, "We were blessed to have him in our lives as long as we did. I'm going to miss him."

She looked at him, her eyes filled with tears and she said in a broken whisper, her face falling again, "Daniel... what am I going to do?"

He lie next to her, holding her in his arms as he whispered in reply, fresh tears running down his cheeks, "_We_ are going to get through this... as a team. He's gone to a better place."

She sniffed. "But you're an Agnostic."

"Sam. Someone like Uncle George has to go somewhere good. It's only right after everything that he's done, everything that he's accomplished." As they wiped away each other's tears, he kissed her forehead and said, running his hand up and down her waist as she rested her head on his chest, "Get some rest, Sam."

0o0o0o0o0o0

With Sam and Jake asleep, the rest of their friends gone with only Jack remaining, Daniel sat downstairs, trying to be philosophical about their loss. He finally looked at Jack, the General seeing his own pain reflected in those clear blue eyes,

"You shouldn't have told her."

Jack said, briefly rubbing Daniel's shoulder consolingly, "She had to find out. If we didn't tell her and we all pretended everything was sunshine just for her sake, when would you have broken the news to her? You'd have kept putting it off until she finds out the worst way – from someone else – and she'll never forgive you for not giving her a chance to say goodbye to him. I know you're pissed but..." He sighed. "Ok, we should have let you break it to her gently. I just didn't think you'd actually do it."

Daniel leaned back on the couch, stretching his head back as he tilted his face up towards the ceiling, his eyes closed. "It's a relief in one way... he had that heart problem for a while and his health had been declining." He sighed. "It makes you think doesn't it, how the people closest to you can go when you least expect it, before you get a chance to tell them how you feel about them, what they meant to you. I didn't tell him a lot of things that I guess I should have."

Jack nodded shortly. "It happens. It's life." He paused for a long moment. "There's talk of the funeral... The President's given express permission for Arlington... which is pretty good going for someone who was originally planning on retiring the year the SGC started."

Daniel smiled slightly at the irony. "There'd be nothing more fitting... on the SGC front but..." his smile disappeared as he recalled witnessing Hammond's Will a couple of years previously. "... he always wanted to be buried next to his wife."

"Now there's a dilly of a pickle. We're gonna have to ask Susan what she thinks." He paused. "How's Carter doing?"

Daniel nodded, looking down at his hands. "She's ok. It's hit her hard... she's known him since she was a kid."

"Yep, Jacob number one and him were best buddies. Saw action together. Carter was another daughter to him." Jack exhaled, running his fingers through his cropped hair. "It just seems unreal that he's gone."


	3. Chapter 3

_Lyrics featured are Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin. _

_Incidentally, X Files, just like Stargate, doesn't belong to me._

_Had to re-submit chapter 2 because FF's screwing up again, so some of you may get chapter 2 emails again_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hammond's family, the President and several members of the Special Service; Mark Carter, SG-1 and what appeared to be most of the SGC, dressed in black or dress blues, slowly filed into a Texan church on a blustery summer day. Daniel carried Jake in one arm, the toddler looking around himself in quiet curiosity, and the Archaeologist held Sam's hand as they followed Jack and Teal'c in, Mark holding Sam's other hand. Over the large group hung a distinct cacophony of conflicting emotions, each of them with the equally distinct feeling that they had reached the end of a chapter.

"_Somewhere beyond the sea,  
Somewhere waiting for me,  
My lover stands on golden sands,  
And watches the ships that go sailin'..._"

Sam looked at her fair-haired brother with a little knowing smile. He smiled back at her, remarking quietly as he let go of her hand to walk behind her down the aisle of the church,

"He loved that song. It was the one he and Aunt Martha first danced to."

Daniel smiled slightly, having heard the story many times from his wife, before sitting Sam down next to Jack on the front pew, not far from a middle aged red-haired woman, a younger blonde and an even younger brunette.

"_Somewhere beyond the sea,  
She's there watching for me,  
If I could fly like birds on high,  
Then straight to her arms,  
I'd go sailin'..._"

Jack nodded on looking up to see Sam, Daniel, Jake and Mark. Glancing at Sam and noticing her trying to look brave, he gave her hand her a squeeze. When she looked at him with a surprised smile, he remarked, gesturing to his own dress blues, his cap balanced on his opposite knee,

"You had a choice whether to wear these stiff itchy things..."

Sam replied with a shrug, "Didn't want to let the side down, Jack."

He smiled slightly before returning his attention to the front. "You could never do that, Carter."

Daniel, with Jake playing with the buttons of his suit jacket, asked Sam as he gazed at her in concern, "Sam?"

She looked at him with a shaky smile. "I'm fine, Daniel. I thought I'd be a blubbering wreck, but I'm fine."

"_It's far beyond the stars,  
It's near beyond the moon,  
I know beyond a doubt,  
My heart will lead me there soon_..."

Knowing much better, he remarked sceptically, "Are you sure?"

She rested her head on his shoulder with a soft smile, glad to have him in her life as she smoothed her bump, while they and Mark looked at the altar, near to which there was a large picture of a smiling Hammond, and a rosewood coffin bedecked with many flowers. Daniel looked around to check where his friends were. He saw Teal'c seated down the pew from them, talking to the middle-aged red-head, Hammond's daughter. He looked over Sam's head to see Cam, Vala, Landry, Carolyn, Walter and Siler seated in a pew behind them with SG-3, the leader of SG-1 leaning forward, resting his forearms on the pew in front of him to chat to Hammond's granddaughters.

Daniel couldn't help but chuckle, Jack too when Susan glared the now sheepish Colonel into sitting back into his own seat after catching a couple of words.

With everyone seated, the dull hubbub of chatter died down once the music had stopped, and the Pastor began the service.

"If I should go before the rest of you,  
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone,  
Nor, when I am gone, speak in a Sunday voice,  
But be the usual selves that I have known

Weep, if you must; parting is hell,  
But life goes on, so sing as well."

The Pastor paused, looking around at the guests to see many with tears rolling down their cheeks, including much of the female demographic. "That was George's favourite poem, If I Should Go, by Joyce Grenfell. The poem, I feel, embodies his spirit, his philosophy throughout life, and it's obvious, just standing here today to see all of you, that he has reached many, many people..."

As the service progressed, Daniel held Sam's hand tightly as she cried on repeated occasions, the Archaeologist also comforting his whimpering son who couldn't understand why his mother was crying. Mark patted his brother-in-law on the arm, and when Daniel looked at him, Mark nodded at his nephew, picking him up as Daniel nodded in thanks before pulling a tissue out of his pocket to give to Sam as he glanced at Jack and Teal'c, both men looking ever stoic although he knew that they were hurting just as much as he was, at least.

Having previously decided to let the Hammonds run the service because of a fear of swamping the family's grief with their own, everyone watched as one of Hammond's granddaughters, Tessa, got up to stand at the altar to do a reading as she dabbed at her eyes every so often.

"From 1:13 Corinthians. The first epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians." Tessa, the fair-haired granddaughter, took a deep breath to steady herself before continuing, "If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

As Teal'c and Cam offered tissues to a now crying Susan and Kayla, Jack got up slowly, approaching the altar as Tessa's already fragile composure began to crack, her voice wobbling.

"And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness..." Tessa closed her eyes as she couldn't hold back the tears any longer and she whispered an apology into the microphone. Jack put his arm around her and said quietly,

"In your own time, Tess." He offered her another tissue which she took gratefully, and she whispered in reply once she had composed herself once again, looking up at him with a smile,

"Thanks, Uncle Jack."

She took another deep breath and continued with Jack at her side, "... Rejoiceth not in righteousness but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love."

Once she had finished, there was a round of applause as Jack escorted her back to the front pew, where her mother hugged her and thanked Jack. Susan then went to the altar. She looked around at the mixture of faces, some of whom she knew, many, many others of whom that she didn't, and she spoke.

"On behalf of my family... and my father, I would like to thank you all for coming and sharing with us our grief. Thank you."

Jack whispered with a proud expression to the Carter-Jackson side of his pew, "She's a medical examiner for the FBI."

As Mark frowned in bemusement at him telling them that at that moment, his nephew having fallen asleep on him, Daniel and Sam whispered in unison, looking a little exasperated at Jack's repeated spouting of Hammond family facts, "We know!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

After Hammond had been finally laid to rest, the retired General having been given a military funeral with full honours, his family and friends gathered around his new grave, Susan clutching the folded US flag that she had been given. The guests, after paying their respects, began to walk away back to their cars slowly, some gathering in small groups to share memories and exchange contact details.

Eventually, just Jack, SG-1 and Mark were left. Jack looked down at the rectangle of fresh earth which didn't have a stone yet, and he said quietly, "He's gone."

Teal'c replied, his head bowed as he looked down at the grave but remaining cautious of Mark's presence, "He will always be a part of us."

Daniel nodded. "That's for sure." He looked at Sam and asked, concerned that she hadn't said much since the earlier service, "Sam?"

She looked at him with a small smile and then down at the sombre toddler whose hand she held. She then kissed Daniel on the cheek and said softly, glancing down at her swollen abdomen, "George is a good name."

They each smiled in agreement, and Jack said as Mark slipped an arm around his sister's waist as they all walked back to their cars together, "Right campers, let's join the convoy back to Susie's house. You know... Tessa's a junior doctor, and Kayla's gonna be a lawyer..."

An amused SG-1 and Mark all said in unison, spooking the General, "We know!"

**To be continued... one more chapter to go.**


	4. Chapter 4

After the wake and bidding farewell to Hammond's daughter and granddaughters, the guests began to make preparations to go home. As Daniel helped Sam into the back seat of their car, draping a blanket over her heavily pregnant form as Jake slept next to her in his car seat, Jack approached the Archaeologist and asked, leaning on the car as Mark exchanged a few words with Susan,

"Which way are you going?"

Daniel gently kissed Sam on the cheek and replied as he got up, the car door still open, "Uh..." he closed his eyes in thought and then continued, "Following route 27 up to Amarillo and then across to Albuquerque. Joining route 25 and heading north through Sante Fe, and eventually through Pueblo. You want to follow again?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah, it's alright... we got Cassie as navigator. If I so much as move an inch from the route, she'll have my head on a pike... just like her Mom."

Cam joined them and asked, "You guys going straight home?"

Jack nodded as Daniel replied, "Yeah... we would have gone over to Cali to see my in-laws but it's already too risky coming out here in Sam's condition. Where are you going?"

"Oh... got a couple more days of leave left so I'm gonna see my parents."

Daniel asked as Jack smirked, "You taking Vala?"

Cam shrugged. "Last time that happened, we had a couple of bounty hunters on our tails... so..."

Daniel smiled slightly as he remembered events of previous years. "Take her. She doesn't get to leave the base much."

"Well, Mom could do with some like-minded company." He crouched down next to the open car door, next to Sam's seat as Vala joined them too, and he remarked, holding the Astrophysicist's hand, "You better not split on the Interstate." He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek and got up so Vala could talk to Sam.

Vala asked as she held Sam's hand, "How are you feeling, Samantha?"

Sam replied, her head against the seat rest as she looked drained, "I've been better." She smiled. "Have fun in Kansas."

Vala remarked with a grin, "I intend to without the pesky inconvenience of bounty hunters. Did you know that Cameron has a rather, shall we say, amicable associate called Darrell?"

Sam couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Vala trying to seduce one of Cam's friends, and she sighed. "Good luck... try to be a little more subtle though."

"I'm all about subtlety, my dear Colonel."

Sam, amused, struggled to lean forward just enough to hug Vala before the dark-haired woman got up and waved at her. Daniel leaned over the car door to ask his wife if she was all right, and Sam replied, resting her head back again,

"I will be when we get home."

Daniel, concerned, checked that his son was ok, and Jack remarked as Cam and Vala walked away to Cam's car, "Mitchell's right... no splitting, Carter."

Sam looked about ready to utter an expletive but Daniel stepped in, closing the door before she got ideas in her head to get up and hit the General. Jack patted the Archaeologist on the shoulder and then called to Cassie who had been waving at him frantically from his own car,

"Hey! I'm not blind! And you took way longer than even Murray saying bye to Daniel and Carter! Napoleonic power monger..."

When Mark had finished talking to Susan, Daniel hugged the red-haired woman, saying with a smile, "It was great to see you again."

Susan replied when he had let her go, "Likewise, Daniel. And thank you... for everything. You didn't have to..."

He shrugged. "He's your Dad not mine... and I'm honoured that he made me Executor... but there are men and women who got more time with him than you did in the past few years... and he talked about you a lot over the years, you and the girls. It's only right."

She smiled and hugged him again before asking, "Is Sam going to be ok?" She waved at Sam, who waved back with a tired smile.

"I think she will be... it's not too far to get home."

"Hey, make sure you take plenty of breaks. It worries me that she's going to be on the road that long."

He smiled gently. "Thanks, Susan. Don't worry about it."

They bade each other farewell and then watched as the President's limousine drove away with a Police escort while some of the military personnel saluted, and Daniel got into his car while Mark got into the passenger seat. Before starting the engine, Daniel turned in his seat to look back at his wife and he said, worried,

"Sam... if you feel anything at all... even if you think it's gas, say something."

When she looked ready to argue, he raised his eyebrows. "No arguments, Colonel. It's important."

She began to look petulant before closing her eyes, and Mark chuckled, remarking as Daniel started up the engine, "We should have had you around when Sam was growing up."

They all waved as Jack's car pulled past them with Cassie, Teal'c and Walter waving at them, and then Daniel pulled out, smiling at Susan as she waved them off. As they left the street, Sam gazed out of the window at the setting sun, and she whispered, tears glistening in her eyes,

"Goodnight, Uncle George. God bless."

Daniel too murmured as he sighed, focussing on the long journey ahead of them, "Bye, Uncle George." Sentiments and words which were mirrored by Mark as well as they unintentionally led a convoy of SGC personnel back to Colorado.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As they drove through the Rocky Mountains as they approached the New Mexico-Colorado border, Sam's eyes suddenly opened and she grimaced. Not wanting to worry Daniel, she hid her mouth under the blanket as she tried hard to regulate her breathing, not wanting either to accept fact at that present moment in time. Eventually, she couldn't hold back and she whimpered, mentally kicking herself as she began to feel contractions.

Mark turned around to look at her, startled as Daniel, scared too and quietly exclaiming, immediately pulled over to the side of the road. Almost flying out of the car, he had Sam's door open within seconds as Landry's car pulled up behind them with Carolyn jumping out before it had even rolled to a stop. Sam, clenching her teeth as the pain grew almost unbearable, whispered,

"Dammit, keep driving... we're almost home."

Daniel said as he ran his fingers through his hair, upset on realising that she had been in pain for some time, "Why didn't you say anything!? You're going into labour! What if I hadn't heard you?!" Mark took a now crying Jake out of the other back door as Carolyn carefully got Sam to lie down across the back seat. Daniel, closing his eyes for a moment, said as Mark got his mobile out,

"No, don't."

Mark frowned at him as though he had said that the sky was purple, and he remarked, looking annoyed, "She's in labour, genius."

Daniel shook his head and said as he pulled his own phone out, nodding at Carolyn, "She... she has a radioactive isotope in her blood which could raise eyebrows... it was a lab accident a few years ago. I'll call the base. We can't take her to a civilian hospital."

Landry approached them. "Already done. The nearest facility is an Army hospital at Fort Carson. It's off route 25, 160 kilometres north-north-west of Pueblo. After that it's the Academy hospital in Colorado Springs. Doctor Brightman has got a team flying into Fort Carson who should be there within minutes."

Daniel kneeled on the asphalt next to Carolyn, trying not to panic as the doctor said, shaking her head as she opened her medical bag, "She's not going to last that long, Dad. We've got to do it here."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A good few hours later of screaming, whimpering, and expletives from the Colonel, Carolyn managed to safely deliver the baby as a couple of State Troopers looked on, having joined the scene earlier to enquire as to why two cars had been illegally parked on the highway. As she did so with Daniel in the driving seat as he leaned between the seats to hold his wife's hand, a military Jeep pulled up with Brightman and some nurses jumping out and lending a helping hand.

Eventually, Daniel sat on the asphalt, gazing down at a squirming newborn in his arms with a huge grin, tears of joy in his eyes. He kissed the baby's forehead, whispering,

"Welcome to the world, little one."

He looked at Carolyn who kneeled next to him, thanking her, and he asked, surprised earlier that she had been prepared for such an eventuality, "How did you know?"

Carolyn shrugged with a smirk, "I've treated you and Sam for years... it's only right that your daughter would take after the both of you in being unexpected. So... what are you going to name her?"

He got up, watching Sam sleep on the back seat of his car, and he said quietly as Carolyn stood too, "Oh... we're in agreement with one name. Georgia. Just not sure whether Sam will agree with my choice of middle name."

She asked, "And what would that be?"

He smiled at her. "Carolyn."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Having been flown from Fort Carson back to the SGC, Sam slept periodically in an isolation room while Daniel and Mark sat with the latest addition to their collective family. Mark had been allowed on base on the condition that he wasn't allowed anywhere near the gate or control rooms and that the incoming wormhole activation sirens had to be switched off.

Mark asked, glancing worriedly at his brother-in-law, "So... my sister can't go to a normal hospital any more? What about her kids?"

Daniel replied with a shrug, crossing his fingers secretly, "They're fine."

"Is Sam fine?"

Daniel nodded, looking serious. "She is. I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her."

Mark patted him on the shoulder. "I know." He smiled as he looked at his niece. "You're going to have trouble with this one. Carter women can be scary."

Daniel chuckled. "Tell me about it." Jack, Teal'c and Cassie entered the Infirmary and gathered around the men. Daniel smiled at Cassie as the younger woman gazed down at the baby. "Hey, do you want to hold her?"

She looked surprised, and Daniel carefully placed Georgia into Cassie's arms. Jack remarked with a smirk,

"Jackson timing, huh?"

Daniel looked down and Teal'c said with a gentle smile, "I believe GeneralHammond would be greatly honoured to know that you have named your daughter after him."

Daniel nodded. "It's only right for someone who's reached us all."

Jack nodded too as did Mark. "Damn straight." The General looked at Cassie and asked, his eyebrows going up, "Can I at least hold my new niece, Napoleonic power monger?"

Cassie looked at Jack sceptically, retorting, "I'm sure Georgia is older than you, mentally, so that's a no."

"Oh fer cryin' out loud..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Later, while Georgia slept in a cot near to Sam's bed, Daniel sat in a chair near his wife, holding her hand as he talked softly to her as she drifted between sleep and wearied wakefulness. "So anyway... I know you've always wanted to name our first daughter after Janet, but Carolyn brought her into the world... so..."

Sam smiled weakly. "We'll just use both names." She sighed. "God... I can't believe we've got a girl... after wanting one for so long. Now Jake's got someone to beat him up."

Daniel laughed, and she asked, "How is everyone?"

"Well, Mark's going to be staying over... he and Jack have gone to O'Malley's with Teal'c, Cassie and Carolyn. You know... General Landry gave him clearance to be on base... but so long as he's not taken anywhere near the gateroom."

She nodded. "Cassie told me earlier before he came to see me. It's much safer now what with the Replicators, the Ori and Baal out of the picture. There's less likely to be one of those convenient emergencies when you least expect."

He sighed as they both remembered the overwhelming odds that they and their friends had overcome to be able to be in a position now to live their lives. "You know what I'm going to miss most about Uncle George?"

She gazed up at him, and he continued as he weaved his fingers with hers, kissing her hand, "Sundays. They'll never be the same without him." He sighed again. "I've been thinking... maybe we should put Sunday brunch on hiatus for a while..."

She closed her eyes and remembered so long ago Hammond's words to her when she had been grieving over losing Daniel to radiation poisoning. He had told her a story that he had never mentioned since, of his best friend who had been shot down in Vietnam but who he had believed somehow to have survived despite the Vietnamese authorities not admitting to taking him prisoner or a body never being recovered.

_'I learned to live with it.'_

She shook her head, tears in her eyes once again, and she whispered, "Don't, Daniel. He wouldn't have wanted that." She sniffed and he gently kissed her.

"Ok. Maybe the pain will go in time, and we'll be able to laugh."

"How's Jack and Teal'c?"

He exhaled. "They're dealing with it. Jack's putting up a jolly uncle front, but sometimes I catch him looking off into the distance every once in a while. Teal'c... well, he's philosophical about it all... and believes that he'll live on."

"He will though... through his family... the SGC... and our memories."

He nodded, and she looked up at him, touching his cheek. "It's ok to cry, Daniel."

Daniel pressed his lips together before saying with a sigh, "When we get home. I don't want to be too sad right now." He smiled shakily. "I'm a Dad again." He kissed her forehead. "You have this habit of making me the happiest and the luckiest man in the universe."

She smiled as she closed her eyes again. "Good." He smoothed her hair back and whispered,

"Go to sleep, Sam. I'm not going anywhere."

– **Fin**

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_Thanks for reading, reviewing, favouriting and story alerting! Very, very appreciated. It's helped shape this story and kept the muse alive between pokings. Thank you very much. I would have liked to have continued but it would have been yet another story that would have ballooned to about thirty chapters in a week from a single story idea. Lol. Glad though that you appear to have enjoyed this, my small tribute to a great man who was something to each of us. Thanks._


End file.
